Chapter 35: To Kill A Sister

Chapter 35: To Kill A Sister Aramith’s lifeless eyes were fixated on Mozrael’s huge figure as she was attacked from all sides. A sharp pain went through his body, causing him to shudder. The spikes attacked her with more ferocity. He gripped his chest where it hurt the most, shaking his head as if to try and clear something. His mind was constantly flashing with uncomfortable thoughts and images. Aramith clutched his head as if trying to silence the torment within. His scream tore through the chaos—a raw sound filled with agony and defiance. For a split second, images flooded his mind: a soft laugh, a warm touch, the gentle glow of someone he once loved. He paused, his body trembling from the onslaught of memory and pain. Then, with a guttural roar, he lashed out, as if the only way to banish the ghosts was to force them into oblivion. Mozrael’s scales rattled at the sound of his scream and a chill ran down her spine. His eyes changed from black to a bright purple which disappeared right after. He fixed his gaze on Mozrael and flew to her. His small figure landed on her back and he raised his good arm to the sky. Tendrils shot up, morphing into chains with sharp hooked ends. They rose a few feet into the air and arced down rapidly, multiplying as they descended. Noticing the small, relentless figure on her back, Mozrael’s heart pounded. For a heartbeat, panic flared as she instinctively tried to shake him off—only to feel the searing pain of spikes lancing into her wings. She winced, her eyes narrowing as adrenaline surged through her. With a defiant roar, she summoned a torrent of lightning around her, the brilliant energy blasting away most of the spikes. Yet, despite the agony and the burning sting, Aramith clung stubbornly to her. Even as steam and smoke curled from his battered form, she fought to free herself, her mind a whirlwind of fury and desperation. Get off! Mozrael thought, but he was too stubborn. The chains pierced through her body, the scales deflected a few. Aramith jumped back and shot up the moment she was pierced pulling the chains, ripping flesh. She bled in many parts now but was slowly healing. This angered her greatly and she decided to attack Aramith.-Irrationality. Aramith fell from the sky and saw her oncoming attack, noticing her body light up with lightning. She roared and lightning shot at him from below. As he fell, he maneuvered skillfully, dodging others and the few that got to hit him were absorbed by the tendrils in his left arm. Just as he closed in, Mozrael’s spiked tail whipped out—a blur of motion aimed straight for him. He barely registered the strike before his missing arm surged back into form. For a heartbeat, time seemed to slow as he struggled to parry the vicious attack, his body convulsing with pain. In that split second, he grunted as his regenerated limb buckled under the force. Yet, even as the impact sent him hurtling upward, his fury overrode the pain. He screamed—a primal, bone-chilling cry—and his wounds began to stitch themselves together as if defying the very laws of nature. Mozrael was furious and with a strong flap of her wings shot up at him. They were once again engaged, exchanging blows. With every clash, a loud boom would resound, making it look and sound like lightning and thunder. Shockwaves and attacks kept floating everywhere. Some buildings were destroyed, and others were set ablaze. In one swoop, Aramith was shot upwards again. he started to descend after going up several feet into the air, charging towards her and ready to strike, a vortex of darkness forming around him. Mozrael’s eyes glowed blue and bolts of lightning crackled around her body, growing in size and number. They clashed mid-air, waves of energy rippling through the air with lightning and darkness mixed within, a sound so loud and life-threatening it made bones rattle. Through all this, the two engaged in a ferocious battle. The fight became more serious as they descended, fighting like enraged animals with no one having the upper hand. Aramith was fast, but Mozrael in her huge form wasn’t slow either. In one attack, Mozrael shifted and Aramith swished past her. Just as he was about to pass her, her tail just spawned before him and he was impaled in the chest. He screamed out loudly and one could see the waves of sound rippling through the air from his mouth. He frantically beat at her tail and broke off some spikes. A bellow of pain escaped Mozrael’s throat and she swung her tail to swat him aside. Aramith gripped her tail tightly and was not thrown off. With a scream that echoed like a wild beast, Aramith was swallowed by a shroud of black mist. Within the swirling gloom, flashes of cold steel—swords, spears, clubs, axes, and hammers—danced erratically. Mozrael squinted through the disorienting fog. The chaotic blur of weapons made it nearly impossible to track him, intensifying the sense of impending doom. Every time she tried to focus, the mist shifted violently, leaving behind nothing but scattered glints of metal and fleeting shapes that threatened to overwhelm her senses. Mozrael had no time to react before the odd figure moved onto her body, The mist moved so quickly and kept appearing at different spots, leaving blood and scattered scales wherever it appeared. Mozrael couldn’t get him off no matter how she moved. He kept wreaking havoc all over her body and within a short time, she was riddled with uncountable wounds but he was not done. Mozrael unleashed another burst of lightning along her form, but Aramith pressed on, unyielding. He felt the searing energy surge through him, burning his flesh—but still, he advanced. Scorch marks blossomed across his skin, yet his determination only grew fiercer. Each agonizing strike, each burn, fueled his madness further. Nothing could halt him; not pain, not fear, not even the dark tendrils of his own cursed power. Mozrael increased the force of the flames till her figure was invisible. Aramith was shot off with steam leaving his body as he fell to the ground in a heap. The flames around Mozrael were so thick it was like a wall. Aramith’s eyes changed to purple and the whites of his eyes started to reappear. He breathed heavily, but difficultly, feeling the aftermath of everything. He was getting tired. "It hurts" He croaked with a dry throat. What’s going on, I can’t move He tried to figure out what was happening. His vision was blurry and everything looked dark, he couldn’t see anything. He felt that his body was covered in cuts and burn marks on several parts. His clothes were burned and torn as well and he could feel a deep gash in his chest. A bright blue flame appeared in his line of vision and as he tried to figure out the blurry flame, he felt his body being set ablaze. "AAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!" He screamed and sat up, scratching at his body. The pain was intense and he couldn’t bear it. He beat himself, trying to get rid of the flames that remained untouched. Black blood vessels appeared in the corners of his eyes, he was rapidly losing consciousness and forced to stay awake. Mozrael watched Aramith as he thrashed about on the ground, trying to get rid of flames that didn’t exist That was the effect of her illusory flames, one of the few techniques she could use. He was in the illusion and didn’t know what to do. Meanwhile, Mozrael was constantly losing energy for it took a lot of power to keep the illusion up. She would have stopped if she knew what was going on. Her goal had been achieved, and Aramith was back to normal. But she didn’t know and kept the attack. This was going to push him to his dark self again. If only she’d take her time to look in his eyes. She watched as he fought against the flames and when he became still, she descended, thinking he was back to his normal self. She moved to his side. Aramith remained unmoving and Mozrael moved closer. She poked him with a claw but he remained unresponsive. All of a sudden he raised his head and looked at her with dark eyes and an expression filled with seething anger. He was weak, but his body moved on its own. The black sword reappeared in his right hand and he vanished, reappearing next to Mozrael. She felt a sharp pain, noting a clean cut in her limb. It fell and the pain spread through her body. She was weak from the constant energy she kept using up and Aramith took advantage of that. He leaped up and came down with force, stepping on her head. She couldn’t resist and smashed into the ground with a boom. Her body was covered In a blue light and she started to change shape, reducing till she was back to her human form. Aramith’s foot was on her back which was covered in cuts. He grabbed her by the hair and lifted her. "Stop! Please! " A shout He stopped. He looked behind and saw Lia. She gripped her chest as she stumbled forward on wobbly feet. "Don’t hurt her! Pl...se," she begged. Aramith looked at Mozrael, threw her into a wall, and then disappeared. He reappeared before Lia and grabbed her by the neck with one hand. She coughed up blood, but he didn’t care about the red color on his pale hand. He pressed tightly against her throat, squeezing out what little breath she had. "Aramith...this isn’t...you" she rasped "Don’t...don’t do this...please..." she tried again as tears rolled down her cheeks. He heard nothing and lifted her above the ground, making it even harder for her to breathe. "I thought you cared..." she coughed again. An image flashed in his head and he grunted in pain, clutching his head with the other hand. "Hnnnn!" He shook his head, but the image persisted the more he looked at Lia. He would have stopped, but he wasn’t himself. Mozrael felt the air knocked out of her as she smashed into the wall. A silent scream of agony escaped her lips and she fell to the ground. She was on the verge of passing out and everything was blurry. She saw Aramith standing in the distance, but couldn’t see what he was doing. She kept fading in and out of consciousness, forcing herself to stay awake. That’s when she heard a high-pitched sound of agony. Her heart burned when she noticed the sound was just like Lia’s voice. No She forced herself awake, concentrating all her energy in her eyes to see what was going on. She saw Aramith, then everything faded to black. Using her little strength, she forced her eyes open again and checked again. This time, the shock she felt from seeing the whole picture drove away some of her weaknesses. Aramith held Lia by the neck and raised her, pointing a black sword to her neck. Maybe she was imagining it, but she saw blood coming down from Lia’s neck. Aramith...this isn’t...you.’ Lia’s voice was barely a whisper, but it cut through the haze of his rage. Her palm, glowing with an ethereal white light, pressed against his cheek. Something warm pressed against his cheek. It was so small, so delicate, that at first, he almost didn’t feel it through the haze of fury and pain. But the sensation grew, gentle yet unwavering, a radiance that seeped into him like a distant memory. A memory of sunlight filtering through palace windows. Of laughter—her laughter—as she scolded him for sneaking sweets before dinner. Of tiny hands clutching his when the nights were too dark, when she was too afraid. The flames inside him flickered. His body tensed, instincts roaring at him to keep fighting, to resist. But something else—something deeper—whispered to him. A voice, familiar yet distant, weaving through the chaos. "...Big brother." His breath hitched. The darkness trembled. He looked down. And for the first time, truly saw her. For a moment, his grip faltered. ’I thought you cared...’ Her tears shimmered like stars in the chaos around them. He wanted to stop. He was still there, but his body wasn’t his anymore. Stop! He willed his body, but it didn’t respond. Don’t! His consciousness was there, but his body was acting on its own, led by darkness. Mozrael’s breath came in ragged gasps, her chest rising and falling in uneven rhythms. The storm raged around her, but her world had narrowed to the sight before her—Lia, standing before Aramith, her small frame barely holding itself upright. She had been too late. Her mind reeled, struggling to grasp what had just happened. She had spent everything—every ounce of strength—to stop him. But she hadn’t stopped this. Lia’s hand, glowing faintly, pressed against Aramith’s cheek. The warmth of it. The sheer contrast between the violence of his darkness and the softness of that light—it was unbearable. Mozrael staggered forward, her lips parting as if to call out, but no sound came. The truth hit her like a blade to the gut. Lia knew. She had known what would happen. And still, she had stepped forward, not as a warrior, but as a sister. A sob wrenched its way from Mozrael’s throat. She tried to move, tried to reach her, but it was too late. Then the light exploded outward, a blinding, consuming force that swept through them all. Mozrael’s eyes widened as she felt the energy surge, stronger than anything she’d faced before. "No," Mozrael’s eyes widened in disbelief when she realized it was already happening. She tried to scream for her to stop but her voice failed her. She wasn’t going to allow Lia to sacrifice so much because Aramith lost control and she couldn’t stop him. Using the very last of energy in her, she forced herself to act. Blue wings sprouted on her back and she turned into a blue streak of light as she flew forward. She hugged Aramith from behind to move him aside with her speed but was too late. Particles of light around Lia suddenly burst into bright light which spread outward, engulfing the three of them. It spread out wide, growing higher and higher and spreading energy. The shield covering them all couldn’t hold on and exploded like glass. The light shot up into the sky and people all over could see it. The last thing Mozrael saw was Lia’s body swaying to the side as she fell. In the palace, those who understood what this meant felt their hearts plummet. It wasn’t just the weight of the event itself—it was the creeping realization of what they had ignored. The three children hadn’t been seen for the past hour. They had all noticed but brushed it off, assuming they were off enjoying the night somewhere. How could they have ignored that? The unease curdled into dread, and without hesitation, some bolted, rushing to inform Henndar, Kethra, and Gebreth.